The Schulich School of Business at York University and Export Development Canada (EDC) announced yesterday an agreement to create a National Curriculum in Integrative Trade for undergraduate business students across Canada. The national curriculum will focus on developing business leaders who can successfully manage international trade, foreign investment and global supply chains. As part of the agreement, Schulich will also create a new undergraduate certificate program in Managing International Trade & Foreign Investment.
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| Above: From left, Albert van Eeden, regional vice-president (Ontario), EDC; Rosemarie Boyle, vice-president, strategic planning & corporate communications, EDC; Eric Siegel, former president & CEO, EDC; Dezsö Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business; Ruth Fothergill, head of corporate responsibility, EDC; Anne-Élisabeth Piché, adviser, community investment & education, EDC; and Paul Labbé, former president & CEO, EDC |
The national curriculum will include a number of learning modules focused on the hands-on implementation and management of international commerce, particularly within small to mid-sized enterprises. Other key areas of learning contained in the national curriculum include cultural sensitivity training and negotiating in a global context. Once developed, the national curriculum will be made available to business schools throughout Canada in both official languages.
The certificate program, offered at the Schulich School of Business beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year, will be aimed at students looking to pursue careers in international business and will include a four-month work internship. Since the development of its International MBA (IMBA) program in the early 1990s, Schulich has provided work internship opportunities for students at approximately 500 companies and organizations in more than 50 countries. Schulich will work closely with EDC and its corporate network to generate a number of additional internship opportunities.
"In the same way that integrative trade has evolved to become the global business model of today and the future, Canada needs to integrate global trade education into its curriculums to produce a generation that has trade in its DNA and Canadian business leaders as adept at negotiating the markets of Mumbai and Shanghai as they are in the boardrooms of Bay Street," said Stephen Poloz, EDC’s president & CEO. "EDC has been a longtime promoter of integrative trade and internationally minded business education, and our partnership with Schulich is an important step in advancing Canada’s ability to compete in the global marketplace."
"As Canada's export credit agency, with on-the-ground knowledge of export markets around the world, EDC is an ideal partner in undertaking this innovative national project aimed at enhancing Canada's managerial expertise in international business," said Dezsö Horváth, dean of the Schulich School of Business. "In today's increasingly international business environment, business education must become more global in content, scope and outreach. In order for Canadian businesses to succeed in this highly globalized economy, business school graduates will need to enter the workforce with a greater degree of expertise in the areas of exporting, importing, licensing and foreign investment."
The initiatives announced yesterday reinforce the mandates of both EDC and the Schulich School. EDC has a longstanding commitment to promoting a trade culture in Canada in partnership with Canada’s universities and business schools. Each year, through scholarships, development of case studies and youth partnership programs, EDC reaches hundreds of Canadian students, opening important channels of communication with tomorrow’s global business leaders. The Schulich School of Business is widely known for its expertise in international business and its role in preparing managers to conduct business within a global context. The school pioneered Canada’s first International MBA and International BBA degrees, as well as North America’s first ever cross-border executive MBA degree, the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA.